


...And the Normal Girl

by GrumpyJenn



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Frustration, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 14:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3491234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	...And the Normal Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justlook3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justlook3/gifts), [AnagramRMX](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnagramRMX/gifts), [AerynB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerynB/gifts).



Cassandra had been locked up, alone in a room, for several hours.

She seemed all right when they found her, when Baird made a sudden turn as though some special Guardian sense was pulling her, and she only had to say the younger girl’s name before Jake shouldered past Baird and Jones into the room where she’d been trapped.

Jake could see Cassandra wasn’t hurt – not physically – and although the room was dim and sparsely furnished, Cass seemed okay.

Quiet, probably shocky, but functional. But Baird had lost patience with Cassandra’s slow responses and tried to pick the girl up in a fireman’s carry so they could get a move on.

Cassie began to struggle, and the whimpering was heartbreaking.

But Jake was there, and he whispered something – he didn’t really know what – in the redhead’s ear. And she gave him a short nod as the terrified expression in her eyes cleared.

And then she’d run right along with the rest of them.

So it seemed like she was okay, until they got back to the Annex and Jenkins began to scold them. He had been his usual acerbic self, but it appeared to bother Cassie more than usual, and she snapped at Jenkins and fled into a reading room.

Jake traded looks with the others, and sighed. They’d just screw it up; Baird and Jenkins were too impatient and Jones would try to jolly her out of her mood and scare her again in the process. So it was up to Jake.

He didn’t really mind though; he liked Cassie.

But he did enter the room with a certain amount of caution, because he didn’t want to scare her.

“Cass?”

She smiled at him from the sofa where she sat. And actually she looked remarkably okay, as though she hadn’t had a harrowing experience, as though she hadn’t snapped at Jenkins and sounded absolutely undone with terror not twenty minutes ago. He did see a little wariness around her eyes as he approached though, like she was afraid he’d shout at her or something.

“Thanks,” she said quietly as he sat beside her and took her hand.

He could feel the beginning of that little half smile that always tugged at the corners of his mouth when she was around. “For what?”

“For…” Cassie trailed off, then took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “For treating me like a… a normal girl.”

“Cass…"

“Hush,” she interrupted, and began again. “You don’t treat me like a broken toy that still does one good trick, Jake. The rest of them do. I mean, they try not to, but you… when I was all messed up in there, Zeke fussed and Eve tried to carry me out. You just said, ‘snap out of it, darlin’ and you can fall apart later.’ You believed I could do it, could react like a normal girl. So I did, I _was_.”

“But you are normal, honey; you just got a few extras, good and bad. So do I. That _is_ normal.” When he said it out loud like that, Jake reflected, it was a lot simpler than it had always seemed to be. He’d have to think on that.

She gave him a smile, and the cautious look was gone from around her eyes. “Anyway,” she said, “Thanks.” And she kissed his cheek.

“No extra charge.”


End file.
